Round The States
New Delhi, 20 September 2007
Majority Of States
Guilty
SCANDALOUS LOOT OF
FOOD GRAINS
By Insaf
Sensational disclosures about the “great Indian grain drain”
have pushed a majority of the States into the dock. Wheat and rice worth more
than Rs.31,585 crore meant for the poor was reportedly siphoned off from the
Public Distribution System in the last three years. Last year alone, according
to a statistical study commissioned
by the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution in 2005,
Rs.11,336 crore worth of food grain that was meant for distribution to the
needy at subsidized prices found its way into the market clandestinely. The total
cost of wheat and rice stolen from the PDS was Rs,9,918 crore in 2004-05 and
Rs.10,330 crore in 2005-2006. The study shows that India’s poor and needy are cheated
out of 53.3 per cent of wheat and 39 per cent of rice meant for them.
The six top offenders guilty of criminal loot among the
States are: UP Rs.3,289.713 crore, Left-ruled West Bengal 1,913.758 crore;
Madhya Pradesh 1,038.69 crore; Assam 958.48;
Rajasthan Rs.665.71 crore and Maharashtra Rs.435.80 crore. The North-East region beats all. Of the eight
States, not even a grain of the wheat supplied to six --- Sikkim, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, Assam
and Nagaland --- reportedly reached the targeted poor. Arunachal was a little
less corrupt at 96.2 per cent.
Shockingly, Vigilance Committees to catch the culprits have not been
constituted so far in Assam,
Bihar, Haryana, Jharkhand, MP, Maharashtra, Manipur, Orissa,
Punjab, Tripura, Uttarakhand, UP, Andaman
& Nicobar Islands and Daman & Diu.
* * * *
Ram Setu Controversy
The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi, is up in arms
against the Centre on the controversial Ram Setu issue.
His annoyance stems from the Union Government’s decision to take a re-look at
the Sethusamudram Shipping Canal Project (SSPC) while withdrawing its affidavit
in the Supreme Court questioning the existence of Lord Ram and Ram Setu.
Chiding the Centre for its stand, Karunanidhi who has been pushing hard for the
project, sought to underscore the Ramayana as fiction floated by the Aryans
(represented by Ram) to dominate the Dravidians (read Ravana). “Who is Ram?” he
derisively asked and added: “If he built the Ram Setu, from which engineering
college did he graduate?” Leading to a sharp reaction from the Sangh Parivar
and an attack on his daughter’s residence in Bangalore.
Forgotten in the political churning on Ram Setu are the
views of renowned experts that the SSCP is not only a bad idea but bad economics.
The distance saved by ships coming from Europe and Africa
by using the canal has been highly over estimated by assuming
Kanyakumari and Tuticorin as the starting points. These ships need not touch either
before going around Sri
Lanka. Even time saved will be much less. The ships negotiating the canal will have to
slow down considerably to enable them to be piloted through. Moreover, the Rs
3000 crore project faces one other disincentive. The canal will be able to
carry vessels up to 32,000 DWT as
against the latest trend of operating vessels
of 60,000 DWT and above. According to a top infrastructure expert, the project
may take more than 200 years to break even!
* * * *
Andhra Bails Gulf Returnees
While neighbouring Tamil Nadu continues to be embroiled in
the Ram controversy, the Andhra Government is being revered as a ‘godsend’ by thousands
of Indians returning from the Gulf. Following the State’s decision to give the
workers a year’s “holiday” from repaying the loans they had taken before going
abroad. Moved by a spate of suicides among 28,000 workers who have already
returned and 15,000 who are awaiting deportation. Chief Minister Rajasekhar
Reddy has also put the onus on the private money lenders, who charge interest
ranging from 36 per cent to 100 per cent as against 14 per cent by the
financial institutions. Harass and
be punished, is his stern message to
them. Going a step further, the State Government plans to provide employment
too. A classic case of Mera Bharat Mahan!
* * * *
BSP To Debut In Gujarat
Riding high on her electoral success
in Uttar Pradesh, the BSP chief Mayawati plans to brave it out alone in the forthcoming
Assembly election in Gujarat. The Party intends fighting all the 182 seats, even
though Mayawati’s recent rally in Ahmedabad attracted a crowd of no more than a
few thousand and her BSP has yet to open its account in the Assembly. Undeterred, Mayawati seems to be banking on
repeating her Dalit-Brahmin success
story in the State. Going a step further, she has also demanded a quota for
Dalit Christians and the poor among the upper castes. Gujarat
has a sizeable Dalit Christian population. Will Mayawati’s quota wheels churn
her rich electoral dividends? Much will
also depend upon the outcome of quiet attempts to get her to join hands with
the Congress on a trial basis.
* * * *
Kudos for ASI In MP
Even as the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) takes flak
for the Ram Setu controversy, it deserves a pat for its performance in Madhya
Pradesh: reconstructing temples dating back to the 6th and 9th
centuries --- literally from scratch. More importantly, it is now successfully working on the borders of dacoit-infested
Chambal, near Gwalior.
Earlier attempts of the ASI had failed as the ruins were the hideout of the
dacoits. But not anymore, thanks to a chance meeting of an ASI archaeologist
with a group of dacoits. He convinced them that the temples were of the same
deities as they worshipped and that the ASI team was neither the police nor its
informers. The dacoits are now staying away from the site. And with hundreds of
stones and idols in the debris, score of temples shall go up at Bateshwar before
very long.
* * * *
ULFA Commander Captured
Assam may well get some respite from the
ruthless operations of the United
Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA),
following the arrest of Prabal Neog, its self-styled commander. For the State
police it is, indeed, a prize catch. Not only was Neog beind the killing of Hindi-speaking people in Upper Assam
this January. He was also responsible for conducting monthly extortions to the
tune of Rs 2 crore from the “industrialist districts” of Tinsukia and
Dibrugarh. Neog, according to the police, had been trained in Afghanistan, Bangladesh,
Pakistan
and Mynamar and had the reputation of being an excellent organizer and planner.
Meanwhile, the English version of an article published by ULFA’s monthly
mouthpiece Freedom and e-mailed to
newspapers last week has sought to give the peace talks a new lease of life. It
has claimed that these talks have neither come to a halt nor broken down. Time
alone will tell.
* * * *
Mothers’ Milk Bank
Few are aware that we now have even human milk banks! The Lokmanya Tilak Municipal General Hospital in Sion, Mumbai was the first in Asia to set up such bank in 1989. Other Government
hospitals have followed suit giving hope for survival to premature, sick and
abandoned babies. The milk is collected, pasteurized at 65 degrees Celsius
for30 minutes and frozen at minus 20 degrees Celsius. It can be stored for at
least six months. The Lokmanya Tilak hospital
has collected 924 litres of milk from mother donars and created a record of
sorts. Dr Armida Fernandez, the founder of the human milk bank, cites scientific
data to claim that mother’s milk given to a premature baby on ventilator can
prevent asthma, diabetes and other allergies which are the cause for infant
death. The milk is, indeed, a boon for the babies. Mum’s the word! ---- INFA
(Copyright India News and Feature Alliance)
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